by Ashlee Price
Paul in particular was feeling the pressure as the second born son. It was also what had happened to Marcel and how in love he was with his new wife. Davina already had a kid on the way and he had been over there a couple of times for dinner in their new house. It was impossible for Paul to not feel a little jealousy. He wanted what his brother had, not an unknown feeling, but it was made stronger when he seen the two of them so happy together. It made him think that maybe he was missing something big and the best thing he could do was do what Marcel did and find him a bride. Though Paul was afraid of city girls, not having much in common with them and couldn’t see his life with one.
“Marcel is happy Scott. It makes me wonder if mom is right and that a woman is exactly what I need.”
“He is happy, but speak for yourself on the rest of it. Me and Darla have been dating for over a year now.”
“So why don’t you ask her to marry you then?”
Scott shook his dark head and smiled back. “There is no way I would want to marry her. She is just for now.”
“Well we aren’t getting any older brother, maybe we should be thinking about more long term. Everyone in the family likes her and she already knows the business.”
Scott couldn’t articulate why it was that he had never thought to marry Darla, but he knew that she was not the one. The reason he stayed with her was that the sex was pretty good, but there was never any soft words of love afterward. Just blissful sleep. “Trust me brother, she is not the one for me. You can ask her if you want. She has always made a comment about how cute my older brothers were.”
Paul shook his head, the older blonde was not his type, but she had always seemed to suit his younger brother. But he was right, she was not really marriage material, or at least not what he had in mind anyways.
“Well we have to at least act like we are trying. Elna will be back this weekend and I think she expects us to have something more to tell her than, we can’t be bothered.”
“You tell her what you want Paul, I am going to bring Darla and give her the illusion.”
Paul shook his head, but had to hand it to his brother, it was a good plan. All she wanted was the idea that it may happen, though it wouldn’t work forever. It would however get her off his back about finding someone for now, though Paul didn’t have a girlfriend. He had an ex, but the family disliked her already, so she was not an option. Even if he could stand to be around her after what she did to him.
Sighing he got back to feeding the cattle, unrolling the large roll of last year’s hay. There was plenty of fresh if they would venture out, but as it started to get cold, the cows got lazy, which was just as well since he didn’t want to go out anyways. There was plenty of hay if they chose not to go out, so he was there in the middle of them unrolling it as they came forward to eat.
There was still several parts of fence that needed to be fixed and since Scott was going to handle the feed run to town, Paul decided he would start on his own task after he was done there. It didn’t take long to make sure that all were accounted for and that there was enough water for the day. He started towards the house and changed his boots before getting to the barn to saddle up his horse.
Colt was ready to get out, antsy as he buckled the straps around the underside of the horse. He tried to calm him, but the horse seemed as anxious as the man felt as of late. He knew that he shouldn’t let it bother him, but it was like a looming problem that he was still unsure how to solve.
He let the mare around the corral for a few minutes before he moved in and grabbed the reins. There was something strange in the air and Paul started to feel it too. He was feeling the restlessness and maybe the two were playing off of each other from familiarity, but one way or another, Paul was ready to go.
Jumping up on his back, the two took off and Paul let the animal steer the way. He wasn’t pressed to do anything in particular, so he let Colt take him far past his own land and into some of the unclear land that the government owned and the cows fed at. It was some time later before he finally stopped the horse, seemingly hell-bent on driving himself into the ground. Something had gotten into the horse and he wasn’t sure what it was. But Paul felt the same restlessness that Colt felt.
As the horse slowed his walk to cool down, Paul got off and walked beside him for a minute. He wanted to get rid of his own energy now that the mare had gotten rid of hers. Paul held the reins loosely and then let the horse get a ways away from him. Paul still wasn’t sure what was wrong with the horse, but he followed the meandering animal away from the direction they had been going to only moments before.
Paul was about to catch up with the horse and turn him back towards the ranch when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. There was someone coming towards them from the woods and by the looks of them, something was wrong. The figure was limping and Paul knew that he had to help them.
As he walked closer to the figure in hurried steps, the horse was already there, nudging the person until a small hand patted his head. Paul stopped for a moment when the person looked up at him and he seen bright green eyes staring back at him. “Miss? Are you okay?”
Chapter 2
Katie nodded her head that she wasn’t. It had turned into one of the worst days and nights of her life and the only saving grace that she had found was the fact that there was a man and a horse suddenly in front of her and the forest had finally broken into some sort of civilization.
She couldn’t talk. Her mouth too dry and the man started asking her a barrage of questions. Instead of answering she looked to his horse and found some water in the saddle bag. No good cowboy would leave without something to drink and Paul was no different. After taking several drinks with him watching her in amazement, Katie finally answered some of his questions.
“I stepped on some kind of trap while I was hunting.”
He looked at her a little incredulously and she tried not to take offense. “I take it women don’t do much hunting in this area huh?”
Paul shook his head. This was not really the place to hunt. He and most others had enough meat from their animals, though there were a few that would go out for a deer before winter hit. When Paul looked at her, he didn’t see a gun or any other kind of equipment, but he did see that she was injured.
He bent down to get a good look at it and she backed up on her good leg. “Let me see it. I will see if there is anything I can do before I take you back to the ranch. There aren’t many doctors out here, but if I knew how bad it was, I could maybe help you Miss or get you a ride into the city to the hospital.”
“It’s going to need something for sure. I finally got my foot out of it, but I haven’t even looked at it yet.”
“Can I?”
She nodded, but she looked down with him and already there were tears in the flesh of her ankle. Grimacing and looking away, Katie started to get a little woozy from looking at it and tried to hold her composure.
“Are you okay?”
Katie didn’t feel okay suddenly, feeling blackness filling in her peripheral vision and then she closed her eyes, swaying on her feet. She would have fallen over if he hadn’t been there to catch her. As Paul looked down at her dirt-smudged face, he wondered where she had come from. He hadn’t gotten much out of her before she passed out, though he did remember the way she had drank from his canteen. It was clear to him that whoever she was, she had had quite an ordeal and he needed to get her looked at. From what he had seen, she was going to need some medical attention and though doctors were on short supply, there was a vet or two in town that had stitched him up on more than one occasion.
Carefully setting her over the saddle until he got on and held her against him, Paul made his way slowly back towards the ranch. He hoped that she would wake up, but by the deep sound of her breathing, she wasn’t going to be waking up anytime soon. Whoever she was, it was just pure luck that he was out there when he was. Paul was never usually out that far and so close to the woods, but he was suddenly glad that hi
s horse had had a mind of his own that morning.
***
Scott looked at his brother as if he had lost his mind. “What is going on Paul? Who is that?”
“You are already back from getting the feed?”
He shrugged and started towards the brother with a woman hauled over his shoulder. “No I haven’t even left yet. Are we not going to talk about the woman that you are carrying? Are we just forgetting about that part of this all?”
Paul was not in the mood to have the conversation. She was hurt and he barked out some orders for supplies and some help instead of answering his barrage of questions. Paul didn’t even know what was going on, but he did know that he wanted to help her.
“Just get what I need Scott.”
Scott took off towards the bathroom and the first aid kit. He called Carol from in town and told her the situations. Carol would be over soon and as Paul laid her down and got her shoe off, it was actually worse than he had thought. He wasn’t sure how she had even been standing on it, let alone walking. It also meant that Carol may not be able to help her. He would know definitely when she got there and as he looked back up worried at her face, hoped that she was going to be okay.
Carol pushed him aside as she came in, taking over like she did everything. The older woman was sure of herself and even men like Paul and Scott moved out of her way when she told them to. There was no denying her natural lead and that day was no different. Paul felt more upset then he should have. He didn’t know her, but he knew that he didn’t like to see her hurt.
“Paul, why are you still standing around? I asked you to bring me some more towels.”
He met her light eyes finally and Carol looked like she wanted to ask more, but she didn’t. Instead she waited for him to go before looking back down at the hurt woman. She had her own questions to ask, but first she had to get the mysterious woman taken care of. The Callahans always made the best gossip and she didn’t think that this one was going to disappoint her.
When Paul came back in, she sent him out for something else to fetch for her. She could see in his eyes that he was too worried to be of much use and though it piqued her interest and made her wonder who she was. But for the time being, Carol just needed him out of her hair with that worried expressions on his face.
Paul finally wasn’t going to be put off anymore. “Carol dammit, is she going to be okay or does she need to go to the hospital? You have to tell me something.”
“She is going to be fine. Looks like she is a little dehydrated and lost a little blood, but she is going to be okay. Just a little rest and she will be up soon. Who is she Paul? I don’t think I have ever seen her before.”
Paul was relieved to hear that she was okay, but he didn’t know how to answer her questions. He didn’t know who she was, not even her name. He told her what he knew, which was the very little that she had told him about stepping on the trap while she was hunting. Carol had the same look he had had, though neither one of them were really hunters.
“Where did you find her?”
“Over by the Miller’s and that creek, right before you get to the woods. I don’t usually go over that way, but the damn horse went over there straight like a shot.”
“Well she is lucky that you found her when you did. She had lost a lot of blood and I don’t know how long she was out there, but if I had to guess, I would say over night.”
It was just more to add to the mysterious woman and he still didn’t know what to think about it. “Thanks for coming Carol. Just send me a bill for it.”
“Don’t worry about it Paul. Just promise me that you will tell me her story when you find out. We don’t get many strangers out in these parts and certainly not one like her.”
“What do you mean?” Paul’s mind went to how beautiful she was, but he didn’t think that Carol would be commenting on that, so he really was confused. All he could see was the refined features of her face and the strange color of her eyes that he hadn’t seen before. He wanted her to wake up, just so he could see her eyes again.
“Look at her clothes, the jewelry, this woman is quite well off. I haven’t seen any shoes like that, unless I was in the city.”
Paul looked down at her shoes and he didn’t know any difference than ever other pair of woman’s shoes. Carol came from money herself and she seemed to know what she was talking about. If she was wealthy as her clothing would suggest, he didn’t understand why she would be hunting in the first place. It didn’t seem like a very lady-like activity and the woman looked like she’d strayed too far.
Carol stayed for a while longer, having some coffee, but they both knew that she was there for when the woman woke up. Carol wanted the gossip, but as the time stretched on, she remembered the other places she still had to go. Her work was never done and she finally left, looking back once in hopes that she would get the story before she left.
“I will come back tomorrow and check on the foot, just to make sure that it hasn’t infected or anything, okay?”
“Okay Carol. Thanks again.”
She waved him off like it was nothing before she left, leaving Paul to look down at his guest and wonder when she was going to get up. He had his own work to do and as another half an hour went by, he decided that he had to go help Scott finish up. It wasn’t right for him to shirk his duties and he was once again feeling restless like he had been that morning.
He looked back one last time at the woman lying bandaged on his couch. There was something about her that made him wonder who she was and why she was there. Paul also had the strange feeling that he was supposed to have found her and that it was all supposed to happen. Was it fate or just luck? He didn’t know. What he did know though, was like Carol, he was waiting to find out more about the redheaded woman that had just been dropped into his lap.
Chapter 3
Katie woke up with a start and tried to sit up. She winced with the pain in her ankle and foot. She had not been expecting it, but as she closed her eyes again, she remembered why she was hurting so much. Looking down, she saw that her shoe was off and her pants were rolled up. Her ankle and foot were wrapped in bandages and she tested movement. She could move it, but it hurt. Tempted to look, she started to sit back up, but it hurt too much and she wasn’t that bothered by how bad it was.
Hearing a noise in one of the rooms behind her, Katie tried to remember where she was. The surroundings were not one that she remembered and it made her worry about the sound she had heard. Who was it and where was she? Hearing the sound again, she started to panic, desperately trying to figure out where she was. When the tall, blonde man walked into the room and looked at her smiling, it was clear to her then. She had seen him right before she got light-headed. He must have taken her back to his place.
Katie sat up the best that she could and tried to smile back at him, but winced with the tug on her tender skin. The man moved forward to put a pillow behind her back for comfort when he saw her struggling. “How are you feeling?”
Katie shrugged, not really sure. Her head was hurting, but it was her foot that was really driving her crazy. It was covered in bandages with some red seeping through and she wanted to see how bad it was, at the same time not sure if she should. She could move it, but each time she did, she could see stars behind her eyes.
“Where am I?”
“You are at the Callahan Ranch. The hospital is a ways out and I had a friend of mine look at you.”
“Thank you, but I need to see it.”
Paul didn’t think it was a good idea. It was hard for him to look at it and he knew that there was the real danger of her going into shock or passing out again. “Why don’t we keep it covered for now? It’s not too bad.”
Katie was going to insist, but she saw something in his eyes that told her that maybe she didn’t want to. Maybe it was best that she waited. “Thank you. I think I will. Don’t want to be passing out again like some damsel in distress.”
He kind of chuckled, wondering how she cou
ld know what he had been thinking. It was what he had been afraid of and relaxed when he realized that she wasn’t going to make him show her. Paul had never been good with female reactions and he didn’t know what he would do if she started crying or something like that.
“How long was I out?”
He thought for a moment and then looked at the clock. It was already three in the afternoon and it had to have been about ten when he had first seen her. “About five hours or so I would imagine.”
She tried to sit up again and she made a face. She wanted to stand up, do something, but as she tried to swing her foot around and felt the throbbing in it, Katie knew that she wasn’t going anywhere. “Did your friend happen to give you anything for the pain?”
It hurt so much that she thought she was going to be sick. “Yes, let me go get them. Carol told me that you would want one when you got up.”
Katie nodded. It was the best thing that she had heard since she woke up in such a way. “Thank you. I will have to thank this Carol person as well. What city is this?”
It was an odd question, but he told her where she was and she didn’t seem to know what he was talking about. She had started out somewhere else and after walking half of the day and part of the night, it appeared that she had went further than she had thought, though it was becoming clear that she should have been somewhere else. Katie must have gotten turned around somewhere and ended up going the wrong direction.
“I don’t even know how I got here. I got dropped off in Elmer and I haven’t even heard of Crouse before.”
“Dropped off in Elmer? That is almost thirty miles away. Did you walk all that way?”
She nodded that she had and lay back on the couch. “Yes, it didn’t seem like that far, but it was the most desolate walk I had ever had. I kept hoping I would run into somebody, but it was just mile after mile of forest with no one around. I am so glad that you were there when I hit the clearing. I didn’t know how much further I could go. Tell me your name, so I can thank you properly.”
